In the parlance of digital marketing, advertisers are commonly referred to as sources, while members of the targeted ads are commonly called receivers. Sources frequently target highly specific, well-defined receivers. For example, after extending the late-night hours of many of its locations, McDonald's needed to get the word out. It targeted shift workers and travelers with digital ads, because the company knew that these people made up a large segment of its late night business. McDonald's encouraged them to download a new Restaurant Finder app, targeting them with ads placed at ATMs and gas stations, as well as on websites that it new its customers frequented at night.

The positive impact of implementing these technologies is shown by this case study showing how retailer George at ASDA boosted site speed and advanced customer engagement with PWAs and AMPs leading to 31% increase in mobile conversion since upgrading to PWA, a 1.71X faster site speed and a 32% improvement in click-through rate from organic mobile traffic for top 500 AMP queries plus a 15% increase in page views per visit. Asda has 65% of its visitors on smartphone.

Washington University offers a Certificate in Storytelling and Content Strategy, which might sound quite different from the other certificates on this list, however, the program covers four of the core content areas of digital marketing education and the unique name simply implies a more macro view of the subject: “Telling the right story to the right audience.” The program consists of three courses, which are conducted once each quarter and only require a few hours one day each week. First is Content Creation: The Power of Storytelling, then Content Strategy: Crafting the User Experience, and lastly Content Science: Data Analysis and Understanding the Problem. This program will likely appeal to those seeking to specialize in content creation and strategies.
It’s clear that the people (but not the companies) of the world are getting serious about privacy, and marketers – who rely on those people – have no choice but to play by the new rules or miss out. One of the new rules is that marketers and brands will have to “‘earn' the contact information of their targets” rather than engage in mass marketing. As Forbes points out:

Delta Air Lines is a prolific user of social media, specifically on its Twitter handle. The brand uses this account to engage potential passengers in a variety of ways that are both timely and emotionally stimulating. Last month, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the company began sharing personal stories from Delta employees directly through the company's Twitter feed. Here's the beginning of one story's thread, below.

The kind of content you create depends on your audience's needs at different stages in the buyer's journey. You should start by creating buyer personas (use these free templates, or try makemypersona.com) to identify what your audience's goals and challenges are in relation to your business. On a basic level, your online content should aim to help them meet these goals, and overcome their challenges.

This is the introductory course to Digital Marketing and is relevant for beginners who may want to understand the basics of the Digital Marketing eco-system before deep diving into each topic. Offered in bite-sized modules, the person needs to unlock 23 badges to win a certificate. Each badge pertains to 1 topic (among SEO, SEM, display, search, email, etc.) and covers the entire gamut of online marketing. The ones who already know about these terminologies or are taking the other courses mentioned in this list can choose to skip this course. For Product Managers out there, do have a look at some of the best Product Management Certification.
For more, check out 4 Examples of Fantastic Web Design for inspiration and consider hiring a web designer who specializes in inbound marketing and SEO to ensure your website is reaching its full potential. Also, consider if you should hire an agency to take your website to the next level (Vital specializes in WordPress website design and development, and Magento website design and development).

Simply put, search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing the content, technical set-up, and reach of your website so that your pages appear at the top of a search engine result for a specific set of keyword terms. Ultimately, the goal is to attract visitors to your website when they search for products, services, or information related to your business.

While at face-value free education may sound too good to be true, there is one catch: it requires tremendous self-motivation and dedication. There are no penalties for lagging behind in these courses and no rewards for excelling at them. And while many free digital marketing education resources may exist they are certainly not organized or all located into one place as a degree or certificate’s curriculum would be. Those pursuing free online education will be tasked with not only hunting down the necessary learning materials but also with learning it–truly learning it–without the help of class discussions, tests, or quizzes or other forms of reinforcement offered by traditional learning programs. Moreover, free course instructors may not be available to answer questions or clarify content like a degree or certificate course instructor would.

Make a list of your existing owned content, and rank each item according to what has previously performed best in relation to your current goals. If your goal is lead generation, for example, rank them according to which generated the most leads in the last year. That might be a particular blog post, an ebook, or even a specific page on your website that's converting well.

Rutgers University also offers online professional certificates, specifically an online Mini-MBA in Digital Marketing. The certificate program consists of 10 modules, a final exam, and a Capstone Project, which will self-paced, must be completed in 12 weeks. The modules consist of video and interactive course materials that students may access 24/7. Online discussion boards and chat rooms facilitate collaboration and social interaction with fellow peers in the program. For students looking to dive into digital marketing with a knack for the business and management aspects of the industry, this certificate program is likely a highly attractive option.
People aren’t just watching cat videos and posting selfies on social media these days. Many rely on social networks to discover, research, and educate themselves about a brand before engaging with that organization. For marketers, it’s not enough to just post on your Facebook and Twitter accounts. You must also weave social elements into every aspect of your marketing and create more peer-to-peer sharing opportunities. The more your audience wants to engage with your content, the more likely it is that they will want to share it. This ultimately leads to them becoming a customer. And as an added bonus, they will hopefully influence their friends to become customers, too.
More and more mature platforms have started to talk about predictive analytics and predictive lead scoring on their blogs and podcasts. This means that a lot of R&D is being made to start offering this capability, not only to the elite F500 but to mainstream small businesses alike. According to GlobeNewswire, predictive analytics market size is expected to reach $10.95B in 2022.
People aren’t just watching cat videos and posting selfies on social media these days. Many rely on social networks to discover, research, and educate themselves about a brand before engaging with that organization. For marketers, it’s not enough to just post on your Facebook and Twitter accounts. You must also weave social elements into every aspect of your marketing and create more peer-to-peer sharing opportunities. The more your audience wants to engage with your content, the more likely it is that they will want to share it. This ultimately leads to them becoming a customer. And as an added bonus, they will hopefully influence their friends to become customers, too.
Constant Contact's Social Media Quickstarter emphasizes opportunities to integrate email with social media marketing, to maximize the impact of both channels. In a series of step-by-step lessons, learners can study digital marketing tactics for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, blogging, and online listings and reviews sites. The way the courses are structured makes them perfect for beginner-level marketers, with components such as glossaries and how-to guides, combined with practical examples of the lessons at hand in action.